If you’re someone who heavily relies on the internet for work or fun, there’s nothing more annoying than when your browser just stops working. And that’s exactly what will happen if your Mac has been infected by a browser hijacker. More specifically, if it’s been infected with the Masterhost.space virus.
But, lucky for you, you’ve found the right article. I’ll explain what exactly it is and show you step by step how to remove the Masterhost.space virus from your Mac.
Name | Masterhost.space |
Category | Browser hijacker |
Symptoms | Invasive pop-up ads and changes to the browser |
Infection method | Software bundling or misleading ads |
System damage | Slow performance and an inability to use your browser properly |
Removal | Manual removal |
What is Masterhost.space virus?
I’m sure you’re probably asking yourself, “What is a Masterhost and how did it get on my computer?” Well, I’ll get to that last part in a second. But Masterhost.space is a type of browser hijacker.
If you’ve never heard the term browser hijacker before, it’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s a piece of software that gives itself permission to your computer and changes all of your browser settings. Effectively, it completely takes over your browser.
But why would anyone want to take over a browser? Well, people may make revenue from page clicks. Scammers will use browser hijackers to generate more clicks, which, in turn, makes them more money.
How can a Mac get infected with Masterhost.space Virus?
So, how did the Masterhost.space virus end up on your Mac in the first place? Browser hijackers like this are commonly installed using two methods: software bundling and misleading ads.
Software bundling is when you install an app, and the malware is hidden in the installation file. This usually happens with free applications that you download from suspicious websites. The best practice to help prevent software bundling is to download apps from trusted sources only. You can also click the Custom Install or Additional Install Options button when you’re installing the app to see if there’s anything trying to sneak in.
The second method of being infected is through misleading ads. Scammers will create ads that look like computer notifications, so you think there’s an error or software update, and you need to download something to fix it. Another common ad is designed to make you think your Mac already has a virus.
How can Masterhost.space harm Mac?
If you wanted to have an optimistic outlook on your Mac being infected with Masterhost.space, here it is — the virus is not going to do anything destructive to your computer or steal your data. But it will make using your computer very annoying.
Browser hijackers take over your browser. So, the virus will reset your homepage and default search engine. That way, anytime you try to search for something, it will redirect you to the site or results Masterhost.space wants you to see. And because your browser is having to do all this extra thinking, it’s also common to see poor and slow performance from your Mac.
But the biggest and most cumbersome problem you’ll experience is all of the pop-up ads that will appear when you’re online. They not only are seen on websites but also start loading in new windows. Between the pop-up ads and the search engine redirects, it’s not hard to see how fast someone could lose their patience trying to surf the internet this way.
How to remove Masterhost.space virus from Mac manually in different browsers?
I do have some good news for you, though. Just because your Mac is infected doesn’t mean you’re out of luck. Masterhost.space virus removal is easy. However, I should warn you that it is a little bit of a tedious process because you’ll have to do it manually in each of your browsers.
Safari
Open Safari and follow these steps:
- Click Safari > Preferences > Extensions.
- Select the Mastehost.space extension > Uninstall.
- Then, quit Safari and open it back up.
Chrome
Here’s how you get rid of the extension in Chrome:
- Open Google Chrome.
- Click Chrome > Preferences > Extensions.
- Look for the Masterhost.space extension and click Remove.
- Restart Chrome.
Firefox
If Firefox is installed on your Mac, then these are the steps to remove the extension:
- Open Firefox.
- Click the button with the three lines > Add-ons and themes > Extensions.
- Scroll down to the Masterhost.space extension.
- Click … > Remove.
- Then, quit Firefox and restart it.
How to prevent infecting a Mac with browser hijackers
After you get rid of the Masterhost.space extension from your browsers, that’s a good time to scan your Mac to make sure there’s no other malware hiding on your hard drive. Or, if you just want to prevent your Mac from getting other browser hijackers in the future, it’s a good idea to regularly scan for malware.
You can download CleanMyMac X for free, and it will help you do just that. It was created to help optimize your Mac’s performance, and one of the ways it does that is by scanning for malicious software.
Once you have CleanMyMac X installed, here’s all you need to do:
- Open CleanMyMac X.
- Click Malware Removal.
- Then, click Scan.
CleanMyMac X will show you whatever it finds during the scan and then all you need to do is click Remove. The app does everything else for you.
Finding out your Mac has been infected by malware like Masterhost.space can feel like a headache. But, after reading this article, I’m sure you can see it won’t be too hard to get rid of it. And now you know about CleanMyMac X, so you can prevent being infected by other browser hijackers in the future.
